


Realization

by Ziffy



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Drabble, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 19:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8172791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziffy/pseuds/Ziffy
Summary: A rewriting of the Peri and Keaton support conversation, because I found it unsatisfying.





	

Keaton, preparing to hunt, was gathering a few large bags to carry his prey in.   
“Hey, whatcha doin’?” Peri called out to him.  
“Getting ready to hunt.” He replied.   
“Ooh, you're going to go kill things? Can I come! I wanna kill!”  
“No, I don't think that's a good idea…” Keaton replied. “I'm going out to hunt for food, not to kill for the joy of killing.”  
“Whaaaat? But you are going to kill things, right? I like killing, so why can't I come?” Peri pouted.   
“Because I don't want you to end up slaughtering everything that moves. We only need a little bit of meat to keep us fed, so we only need a couple of animals to die.”  
“Fine! I won't come, then! I can have fun on my own!” Peri said as she walked away.   
“I hope I come back to everyone in the camp still breathing,” Keaton muttered to himself as he walked toward the mountain. 

“No killing, no killing… it's not fair! Why do people praise me for killing our enemies, but Keaton won't let me hunt? Isn't it basically the same?” Peri grumbled. Seeing Jakob walking by, she shouted, “hey Jakob! I'm thirsty, can I have some tea?”  
“Most certainly not! I am Corrin’s butler and not yours! Have you no decency?”  
Decency? Peri thought. What does that have to do with anything?  
Continuing to wander around the camp, she eventually came across Leo, and asked, “am I decent?”  
“Huh? Where'd that come from? Well, I suppose you're a decent warrior, in fact, you're a wonderful warrior, but as a person, I think you might be a little less than decent.”  
Less than decent as a person? Peri was only sinking deeper into confusion.

On the mountain, Keaton had just brought down a beautiful buck. I'm sorry, friend, but your death will not be in vain. You are feeding a righteous cause, I hope. After carefully gutting it, he cut it into a few pieces and put them in the bags. Just before he left, however, he heard a small whimper from the bushes. Following the sound, he discovered a small wolf pup, obviously the runt of the litter. “Were you abandoned by your mother? That's not good, I'll have to take care of you.” Taking a sliver of meat from one of the deer pieces, he slowly offered it to the pup. The starving animal quickly ate it, and begged for more. “Oh, all right. Here's some more,” Keaton said to the wolf, getting another piece of meat. “Come follow me,” he said after the pup had finished, picking it up and heading back. 

Well, whatever being a decent person means, at least I'm good at fighting! Peri thought to herself as she stabbed a dummy with her spear. But I want to kill living things. Dummies are just so… dumb! She the herself on the ground and stared at the sky. Suddenly, Keaton appeared over her, holding a small, furry creature.   
“Look what I found, Peri!” He said happily.  
“It's… a wolf pup? Can I kill it?”  
“No! You are not allowed to kill this animal. It's going to be our friend!” He said firmly.   
“Ugh, fine! I won't kill it.” The pup looked over at her, and she felt a little flutter in her stomach. You know, it's actually kinda cute, even though it's alive. “Can… can I pet it?” She asked.  
“Uh, I guess you can try… just don't hurt it, ok?”  
“I know!” She said, shooting him a dirty look. She tentatively extended her hand, and placed it on the wolf’s head. Very gently, she petted it, running her hand along it's body. It's so warm… I bet it's blood I'd beautiful. Wait! No killing this one. It's still pretty cute, though.   
The pup was surprisingly calm throughout the ordeal. “You know, I think he likes you!” Keaton said.   
“W-what? Re-really?” Peri stuttered. She had never actually dealt with living animals, usually preferring to kill them on sight. The feeling in her stomach was unfamiliar, but it was warm, and rather pleasant. “I know, let's train him to kill with us! Then we can have even more fun!”  
“You know, that's not actually a bad idea. Wolves hunt well, so why shouldn't he be able to join us in battle?” Keaton replied thoughtfully.   
“Peri!” Someone called out. “It's time to cook dinner!”  
“Oh yeah, I got you a wonderful deer to work with tonight. It's going to taste great!” Keaton said.  
“Yay! This'll be fun!” Peri exclaimed, running toward the kitchen. 

When dinner was served, Peri looked around to find Keaton. Seeing him in a corner with the pup, she trotted over with her dinner. Just as she came up, she saw Keaton giving the small creature a piece of meat off of his plate.   
“Can I feed him too?” Peri asked excitedly.  
“Sure!” Keaton responded.   
Peri expertly cut a small portion and held it out to the animal. It gently took it from her fingers, and happily chewed and swallowed.   
“He's so cute,” she mumbled.   
“Yeah,” Keaton agreed. 

Several days later was yet another without a battle. Peri, having not drawn blood for a whole week, was itching for bloodshed. But because there weren't any enemies, all she could do was shred even more dummies. She worked herself into a frenzy, stabbing one of them over, and over, and over again. After that, she ran around, slashing at trees, dummies, bushes, anything that was in her way. Seeing a bird, she got excited. Carefully stalking it, she stabbed it through the center. Reveling in her kill, she tore the bird to shreds, scattering it everywhere.   
Nearby, Keaton and the wolf pup were walking. When the pup smelled blood, he started bounding toward it. Keaton followed, curious where they were going. When he caught sight of Peri through the trees, covered in blood, he became worried. Seeing the pup still running toward her, he tried to call out, but he was too slow. In her bloodlust, Peri had spotted the pup, and skewered it with her spear.   
Hehehe… more blood. Look at how red it is… But suddenly, her stomach turned over. She looked closer at what she had just killed, and saw a familiar furry head. Oh no… she thought. Oh no, oh no, oh… And looking up, she saw Keaton, who fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. No… what have I done? Looking down again, her gut wrenched at the sight of the blood. She dropped her spear, tears welling up in her eyes. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. After a few moments, she ran. She didn't know where, but she knew she had to run. There was so much blood, and it was so pretty, so why do I feel so terrible? She thought. After a few minutes, she collapsed, and curled into a ball. Why… why? Was all that she could think. 

Meanwhile, Keaton was holding the lifeless pup. I'm sorry, child. Life wasn't easy for you, and it ended too soon. He carefully dug a small grave, and buried the body. I don't know if I can forgive you for this, Peri.   
He stood up, and walked back to camp. 

Several hours later, Peri still hadn't returned. Concerned, Corrin asked around to see if anyone knew where she was. Keaton responded simply by pointing out into the forest. Corrin called a few people, and they began to search. 

Half an hour later, Effie found her. She was covered in blood and dirt, and her makeup was smeared everywhere, but she was asleep, having exhausted herself with grief. Picking her up, Effie called out that she found her, and walked back to camp. 

When Peri woke up, she found herself in her tent. Sitting up, she remembered the events from earlier. Looking down at her clothes, she was disgusted. She grabbed new clothes, and ran to the river to bathe. After putting on her fresh clothes, she threw the old ones into the river, and watched them float away. At that moment, she heard yelling from the camp. A small enemy force had ambushed them! A little thrill raced through Peri. Maybe this will take my mind off it… She raced to grab her spear and join the fray.   
Once she arrived, she immediately took on the nearest opponent. Though he was skilled, she quickly dispatched him, skewing him through the stomach. But when she saw the red seeping out of his clothes, she saw the small corpse of the wolf pup. Stunned, she stopped for a second. Suddenly there was a man in front of her, sword raised high. All she could do was stare. Luckily, Corrin was there to quickly disarm him, and carefully knock him out. “Get your head in the game, or you'll die!” Corrin shouted. But moments later, it was over. The remaining enemies fled. Still confused, Peri looked over at the corpse of her foe, and promptly passed out. 

The next several days were spent in a fevered fog for Peri, who stayed in bed, vomiting once in a while. When the fever broke, she laid thinking. Why isn't killing fun any more? Why doesn't blood look so pretty? Round and round her thoughts raced, carefully avoiding the image of the wolf pup.   
A while later, Keaton came in with a plate of food. Looking at him, Peri suddenly saw the crumpled wolf in her mind's eye. She explosively started crying. “I-I-I’m s-so-*gasp* sorry!” Keaton simply turned, tears welling up in his eyes as well. She turned over, and cried herself to sleep again. Keaton’s refusal to speak to her made her mourn even more.   
Several days passed, Keaton and Peri carefully avoiding each other. Peri eventually worked up enough courage to talk to Corrin.  
“Corrin, can you teach me how to be a decent person?”  
“Well, I suppose I could. But why?” Corrin asked, confused.   
“Because I feel like people don't like me, and I want to change that. I want to be decent!”  
So Corrin taught her about etiquette and various social skills that Peri was lacking. Afterward, Peri felt like a new person, and fell asleep thinking about what she had learned. 

The next day, the camp was ambushed again. But this time, the enemy were far stronger in number, and the band under Corrin’s leadership were having a difficult time surviving. Peri raced to get her spear, but after grabbing it, she paused. Come on, it's killing. You like killing, right? She thought to herself. Suddenly, she heard a roar, like a best in pain. She ran outside, and saw Keaton in beast form, arrows protruding from his arms and chest, bleeding profusely, being backed against a tree by four people holding spears. Seeing Peri, he yelled out, “help me!”  
But looking at the blood coming from his torso, she froze. Seeing this, he screamed, “I forgive you!”  
With that, her mind cleared. Before her was a friend who was dying, but whom she could still save, unlike the wolf. She flew into a frenzy, and pleasure exploded within her. The blood of my enemies… that is what I revel in! Smiling, she slaughtered the people around Keaton before they had a chance to react. She continued on her rampage, cleaving the enemy ranks. Their foes quickly realized that even with superior numbers, they still stood no chance, and so retreated. 

After the dust had settled, Peri went to find Keaton. She found him in the medical tent, being attended by Elise.   
“Now just rest, and you'll feel all better!” Elise said, turning to leave. “Oh, hi, Peri!”  
“Hi,” she said, before turning to face Keaton.   
A few awkward moments passed before Keaton finally said, “thanks for saving me.”  
At this, she burst into tears. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…”  
“What for? You saved me.”  
“But-but, th-th-the wol-" she started sobbing.  
“It was an accident, Peri. You aren't a bad person, the pup just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think you learned from it, though.”  
After her crying subsided, she nodded. “I-I’m having Corrin teach me how to be a decent person.”  
“Really? And how's that going?”  
She grimaced. “It's really hard! There's all these little unspoken rules, and I keep messing them up!”  
Keaton laughed. “Maybe I should ask for some decency lessons too! I know plenty about beasts, but people are just confusing!”  
The two laughed together for a while. After it subsided, Peri asked, “so we can be friends again?”  
“That depends. Are you going to kill everything that moves?”  
“No. I'm only going to kill things that threaten my friends. It's so much fun to see them fail!”  
“And what about hunting?”  
She thought for a bit. “Maybe if we need meat, I can kill things?”  
“You finally understand!” He hugged her.   
Shocked, she thought about pulling away, but she realized she felt happy. There are things I can do for fun… that aren't killing.  
Letting her go, he asked, “do you want to go see where I buried him?”  
Hesitating, she replied, “y-yes, I think so.”  
And so they went back to where, not so long ago, she had first felt regret from killing. On the small mound of dirt, Peri placed a hydrangea, then returning to camp with Keaton.


End file.
